Despite late notice, Rosales KOs champ, wins Oceana belt

Jessie Cris Rosales came in as a late replacement and as a huge underdog against a former Olympian in his own backyard. But despite the odds, he scored an upset of World Boxing Association (WBA) Oceania super featherweight champion Ibrahim Balla last Sunday at the Grand Star Receptions in Altona North, Australia.

Balla out-boxed Rosales in the opening round, throwing some beautiful combinations that was set up by his jab. He continued where he left off in the second round and continued to land his combinations with accuracy. But as Balla was coming in, Rosales threw a right uppercut to the body followed by a solid left hook that knocked the Australian out cold.

“Right now, we’re still shocked,” said Rosales, who couldn’t believe how easily he stopped a very talented fighter in Balla.

Rosales bounced back from a loss to experienced former world champion Jhonny Gonzalez, who knocked him out in two rounds.

“It was a sweet victory because the last time we fought, it was a second round knockout in Mexico. We made up for it today,” said Rosales’ coach Jinggoy Junco. “Our game plan was to stay in front of him and throw powerful 1-2 combinations because we knew we couldn’t win on points. So we really gambled on that knockout.”

Rosales is now the new WBA Oceania super featherweight king and improved to 22-1-1 with 10 knockouts. Balla, in the meantime, suffered his second defeat against a Filipino and dropped to 13-2 with seven knockouts.

In the main supporting bout, Qamil Balla (12-1-1, 5 KOs) defeated Pinoy fighter Adam Diu Abdulhamid (115, 4 KOs). /